.■^■v> 






SPEECH 



OK 

/ 



HON. E. JOY MORRIS, 

OF PENNSYLVANIA, 



ON THE 



electio:n' of speaker, and ijst defense of the 

NORTH: 



DELIVERED 



IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, DECEMBER 8, 1859 






WASHINaTON: 

PRINTED AT THE CONaRESSIONAL GLOBE OFFICE. 

1859. 



UNION, PATRIOTISM, AND PEACE. 



Mr. MORRIS, of Pennsylvania, said: 

Mr. Clerk: Occupying, as I do, a perfectly 
independent political position, I am at liberty, ft-ec 
from any particular party bias, to vote in the elec- 
tion of Speaker, and on all questions which shall 
come before the House, when it shall have been 
duly organized, according to my senscof duty to 
the country and my constituents. In such a posi- 
tion, I do not sympathize with extreme men and 
measures, on either hand, and shall, as far as pos- 
sible, avoid any countenance of, or participation 
ill, the discussion of topics of an exclusively sec- 
tional character, introduced merely to stimulate 
pai-ty passions, and jnflame local prejudices. 

As a Representative, Mr. Clerk, of an emi- 
nently conservative constituency, I am suri^rised 
to see the deeply exciting question of slavery, the 
agitation of which has been so constantly depre- 
cated as inflaming the public mind and disturbing 
the peace of the country, prematurely introduced 
here by gentlemen representing slaveholding con- 
stituencies. Sir, I am opposed to all unnecessary 
agitation on the subject. I am willing to meet it 
only when it comes before us in the ordinary 
action of a legislative body. But I protest against 
its being thrust upon us now, before the House 
is organized, and to the obstruction of public 
business, and in order to confuse the election of 
Speaker. 

There are many tests, Mr. Clerk, of the fidelity 
of men to the Constitution of the United States, 
and to the union and harmony of the country. 
Crises in our political history from time to time 
occur which put men's principles to a stern proof, 
when loyalty to the party and devotion to the coun- 
try come in conflict; when the voice of patriotism 



or faction must be heeded; when the popular will 
or that of the Executive must be observed. In 
such a crisis stood my honorable friend from Ohio 
[Mr. SHERMA>f] in the last Congress, during the 
memorable struggle on the admission of Kansas 
under the Lecompton constitution. Upon our 
action at that time depended not only the tranquil- 
lity of the particular district of country about 
which we were legislating, but the peace of the 
whole nation. 

Under previous legislation the people of Kansas 
were allowed to determine for themselves whether 
they would come into the Union as a free or slave 
State. While engaged in the solution of that im- 
portant question, every act of fraud, violence, and 
ruffianism perpetrated against them, to prevent 
the free expression of opinion, was countenanced 
by this wicked Administration, and a constitution 
was brought into this House which was not the 
act of the people of Kansas. It was fraudulent 
from beginning to end; one which would not bear 
the test of investigation. When the House raised 
a committee for the purpose of investigating the 
frauds with which it was tainted, the Speaker — 
for whom I entertain personally the most profound 
respect — violated the first principles of parliament- 
ary law, and appointed a majority on the com- 
mittee opposed to the very object for which the 
House had created it, and thus defeated the ex- 
posure of the iniquitous proceedings by which the 
legal voice of the people of Kansas had been coun- 
terfeited. 

Here we sat, sir, for months, debating whether 
the mandate of an arbitrary Executive should be 
obeyed, and that fraudulent constitution be forced 
onKansasby the Federal Government. Wcknew 



that ifitwer^, it would lead to a bloody civil war — 
a war that might overspread the limits of Kansas, 
and embrace the whole nation in its flames. Where 
stood my honorable friend from Ohio, [Mr. Sher- 
man ?] With his back firmly set against this des- 
potic Administration, nobly maintaining the cause 
of law and order, and the rights of the people, 
yielding not an inch during all that glorious strug- 
gle of popular privilege against Executive usurp- 
ation; from first to last, true as steel to truth and 
justice, foremost among the most able champions 
of the people. For his gallant conduct during all 
that contest, he shall have my vote, as long as 
there is a possibility of electing him Speaker of 
this House. 

I know, sir, that there is not in this House a 
member more obnoxious, politically, to the Ad- 
ministration, than the gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. 
Sherman,] and whose election as Speaker is more 
justly dreaded by it. To him the country is in- 
debted for the investigation in the last Congress 
which brought to light the abuses and corruptions 
of the naval department, and which led to re- 
formatory legislation, by which the Treasury will 
be in future guarded against similar practices. If 
further investigation is necessary into the conduct 
of the Administration — and if rumor and general 
suspicion are to be relied on it is absolutely neces- 
sary — the Administration has just reason to fear 
from the well known firmness and integrity of 
character of my friend [Mr. Sherman] that he 
will so appoint the requisite committees, as to pro- 
cure a thorough and unsparing scrutiny into all 
the malpractices of the Government. The fact 
that his resoluteness of purpose and fearless energy 
in the exposure of corruption, has provoked the 
fierce and malignant hate of the ruling dynasty 
and its servile minions, should commend him to 
the support of all who wish to see the purity of the 
Government vindicated, and venality and political 
profligacy chastised with the scorpion lash of 
public indignation. 

My constituents, Mr. Clerk, have too great in- 
terests at stake in the organization of this House to 
permit me to hesitate as to my choice of Speaker. 
I will vote for no candidate for that office who is 
not II true and proved friend of the cause of pi'o- 
tection. I know Mr. Sherman to be such, and I 
know that he will so organize the Committee of 
Ways and Means as to give that question a fair | 
hearing, when a proposition for a revision of the j 
tariff shall come before it. We have a right to ex- 
pect that the business wants of the country shall 1 



be taken into consideration; that remedial meas- 
ures shall be applied to existing evils, and that the 
voice of the great productive masses shall at least 
be heard and respected in the committee specially 
charged with the protection of their interests. The 
election of my friend from Ohio will be the surest 
guarantee of the realization of such a hope. 

But, sir, apart from all this, I know the gentle- 
man from Ohio [Mr. Sherman] to be a man of 
just and equable temper, of a fair and honorable 
nature, and incapable of perverting parliamentary 
law into an instrument of partisan despotism. If 
I knew him to be otherwise, or if I had the slight- 
est doubt on the subject, I would not give him my 
vote at any time; as I will never aid in placing in 
that chair, Mr. Clerk, a)iy man who will not ad- 
minister the rules of the House with equal and 
exact justice to all parties. 

But, Mr. Clerk, we are,told that Mr. Sherman 
is one of those who signed the recommendation 
in favor of Helper's book. Very well, sir; I did 
not sign it, and I claim no particular credit for not 
doing so. I have read but little of the book. So 
far as I do know anything about it, I understand 
that it is a work written by a native]of a southern 
State; a book peculiarly and almost exclusively 
addressed to southern men, reciting the experi- 
ences of a southern man, and drawing a compar- 
ison between the productiveness and the utility of 
free and slave labor. The book, sir, must fall or 
stand upon its own merits.* And what is done 
here.' Why, gentleman magnify this book into 
a tremendous engine of mischief. They proclaim 
that this book and all who indorse it are capable 
of producing infinite mischief to the peace of this 
country. They proclaim that all who indorse it 
indorse treason. Has not my honorable friend 
said that, in so far as that book expresses anything 
contrary to the Constitution of the United States, 
so far he condemns it. Could any declaration be 
m.ore unreserved, more candid, and, I may add, 
more acceptable, if gentlemen are willing to be- 
lieve in the veracitj'- of their peers upon this floor.' 
What have we to do with Mr. Helper's book more 
than with any other book ? J^-c we to sit here, as 
' a college of Jesuit censors, to expurgate the liter- 
j ature of the country .' Are wc to convert ourselves 
from a congressional and legislative body into a 
literary tribunal, and pass in review the merits of 
every incendiary publication which may be thrown 
out in the country, and hold gentlemen responsi- 
ble for the sentiments of that publication in so far 
as they have read and indorsed it, directly or in- 



directly? Why, sir, this is a most extraordinary 
proceeding. It lifts Mr. Helper into a conse- 
quence he never dreamed of attaining. It makes 
him an enemy of the Sovith more formidable than 
he ever aimed to be, if, indeed, he aims to be an 
enemy of the South at all.* It makes him an in- 
strument of mischief far beyond his capacity, and 
far beyond the imagination of his most partial 
admn-ers. This book, so full of mischief, which 
has been occupying the attention of Congress now 
nearly for an entire week, you have asked the 
whole people of the United States to read and 
ponder upon. You have been dwelling and dwell- 
ing upon its inflammatory text, so that if it ever 
had any mischief in it, you have increased the 
power of that mischief to an incalculable extent. 

And, sir, what has been done upon this floor is 
in perfect consonance with the action of the Dem- 
ocratic party. Who repealed the Missouri com- 
promise ? Who broke the bonds of peace which 
had been signed thirty years before by the wise 
men of the North and of the South? The Dem- 
ocratic party. Who framed the Kansas-Nebraska 
bill ? The Democratic party. Who refused to 
carry out the provisions of the Kansas-Nebraska 
bill ? Who deluded the people of Kansas into the 
idea that they were to have a free expression of 
their will on their organic form of government, 
and then denied it them? The Democratic party. 
Who brings the question of slavery first into this 
Hall? The Democratic party. Who delays the 
organization of this House by factious expedients, 
and keeps the country in a state of dangerous ex- 
citement by the violent discussion of the slavery 
question, when it is totally uncalled for? The 
Representatives of the Democratic party. For 
all the sectional bitterness now prevailing, and 
which grows out of the slavery agitation, the 
Democratic party is responsible. By that it lives, 
and by that it will perish. 

Notwithstanding these facts, we are daily told 
that the North is the distur]>cr of the peace of the 
country, that it is implicated in acts of conspir- 
acy and outrage against the people of the southern 
States; and that it is responsible for the acts of 
John Brown, and the sentiments of a fc^w radical 
and fanatical orators. I am no apologist for the 
North. The North needs no a])ology, and has 
none to give. It is loyal to the Constitution; it 
is loyal to the Union; and they who seek to mis- 
guide and impress the people of the South with 
the idea that the people of the North, as a body, 
are hostile to them, do it for the purpose of fac- 



tious mischief — a mischief that will have a wider 
range, and be attended by far more pernicious 
consequences, than they, in their short-sighted 
folly, imagine. 

Mr. Clerk, God forbid that I, as the Represent- 
ative of a conservative constituency, should have 
any part in embroiling different sections of the 
country, or in misrepresenting one section of the 
country to the other, for mere political purposes 
and partisan aims. It is impossible for the peo- 
ple of the North and of the South to live together 
in amity and concord so long as the actions of 
individuals, or the actions of small bodies, are 
taken as indices of dominant sentiment in those 
sections. Sir, the constituency I in part represent 
is an eminently loyal one. It has no sympathy 
with John Brown, or for those who incited him, 
directly or indirectly, to his mad crusade in Vir- 
ginia. The people of the city of Philadelphia, 
where the Hall of Independence still remains, 
cherish deeply the feelings and motives that led- 
our ancestors to the Declaration of Independence, 
and the Union which sprang from it. They are 
animated by the sacred associations of that Hall, 
and they know that that Union can exist only so 
long as-North and Sottth and all sections respect 
their respective reserved rights. We of the North 
insist that we are not to be made a particeps crim- 
inis in these transactions. We insist that it is a 
false and unwarranted charge. Yes, sir; it is a 
libel, it is unjust, and it is a calumny, to hold the 
whole body of the northern people responsible for 
the acts of the leader of a band of madmen. Was 
the whole South, Mr. Clerk, held responsible 
when the Legislature of South Carolina passed 
an ordinance deliberately nullifying the laws of 
the United States? Did we identify the whole 
South with the people of South Carolina, or with 
the nullifying party in South Carolina, which 
was in favor of armed resistance to the laws of the 
United States? No, sir; we heard from the loyal 
States of North Carolina, Tennessee, and others, 
indignant protestations against the South being 
incriminated in the action of South Carolina. 

When the President of the United States, a 
native of Tennessee, issued his celebrated proc- 
lamation against the nullifying resolutions of 
South Carolina, he met with a response, not from 
the North alone, but from the East and AVcst, 
and all the loyal men of the South. And the seces- 
sion recommendations of the Nashville conven- 
tion of 18.')0 fell powerless ujion the hearts of the 
loyal people of the South. We never believed 



6 



that the whole people of the South were ripe for 
these sectional schemes of aggrandizement and 
separation of the Union. Nor do I b.elieve that 
any considerable portion of them now, through i 
the cigency of secret societies, can be welded to- ! 
gether to form a deliberate plan for the establish- 
ment of a southern slaveholding confederacy, and 
a dissolution of the Union for that purpose. You 
might as well expect the people of the North to 
identify the whole people of the South with the 
reopening of the slave trade. You might as well 
expect U3 to believe that everybody thei-e is in 
favor of the revival of that accursed traffic, be- 
cause certain leading public men and presses ad- 
vocate it. On the contrary, we know that one, 
at least, of the members of the present Cabinet, 
and that some of the chief statesmen of the South 
are arrayed against it, and we know that all truly 
humane and Chi-istian men there abhor this in- 
famous scheme. We have no fears upon that 
subject. 

Then why, gentlemen of the South, why, when 
we refuse to involve you in these general charges 
and odious suspicions as an entire people, do you 
persist in this war of crimination and misrepre- 
sentation against the No)J.h, when you cannot 



really believe in your hearts that the whole peo- 
plc of that part of the country entertain uncon- 
stitutional designs against the South.' No, sir; 
for one I am for the Union; I am for peace; I am 
for law; and never until the last moment shall I 
despair of making thi^ glorious Union, and the 
Constitution dependent upon it, perpetual. I 
hope we may be able to live together like a band 
of brothers; but, sir, we never can, so long as 
gentlemen come into this Hall and insist upon a 
course of misrepresentation, and upon involving 
innocent people in the acts of a criminal few. 

In the name of my constituents of Philadelphia, 
at least, and of the patriot State of Pennsylvania, 
I protest against the assaults upon our character 
as a law-observing and constitutionally loyal peo- 
ple. There is not a city or State that is more 
ready to resist aggression in every shape and 
form in which it may be made against the people 
of any portion of the Union. We will defend the 
constitutional rights of others, with the same zeal 
that we assert and maintain our own. 

We are for the Union and Constitution in 
their full supremacy, and against all who 
would impair the existence of the one or 
obstruct the operation of the other. 



to those \ 
State affah^ 
And herf 

\ 



DUTIES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

AT THIS CRISIS. 



A SPEECH of Hon. CHARLES SUMNER, delivered at 

the RejDublicaii Convention at \Yoreester, Sept. 7, 1854. 



Mr. President and Fellow Citizens of Massachusetts : After months of anxious, 
constant service in another place, away from Massachusetts, I am permitted again 
to stand among you, my fellow citizens, and to draw satisfaction and strength from 
your generous presence. [Applause.] Life is full of changes and contrasts. 
From slave soil I have come to free soil. [Applause.] From the tainted breath 
of Slavery I have passed to this bracing air of Freedom. [Applause.] And the 
heated antagonism of debate, shooting forth its fiery cinders, is changed into this 
brimming, oVrflowing welcome, where I seem to lean on the great heart of our 
beloved Commonwealth, as it palpitates audibly in this crowded assembly. [Loud 
and long applause.] 

Let me say at once, frankly and sincerely, that I have not come here to receive 
applause or to give occasion for any tokens of public regard ; but simply to unite 
with my fellow citizens in new vows of duty. [Applause.] And yet I would not 
be thought insensible to the good will now swelling from so many honest bosoms. 
It touches me more than I can tell. 

During the late session of Congress, an eminent supporter of the Nebraska Bill 
said to me, with great animation, in language which I give with some precision, that 
you may appreciate the style as well as the sentiment : " I would not go through all 
that you do on this nigger question, for all the offices and honors of the country." 
To which I naturally and promptly replied : " Nor would I for all the offices aiid 
honors of the country." [Laughter and long applause.] Not in these things can 
be found the true inducements to this warfare. For myself, if I have been able to 
do any thing in any respect not unworthy of you, it is because I thought rather of 
those commanding duties which are above office and honor. [Cries of good, good, 
and loud applause.] 

And now, on the eve of an important election in this State, we have assembled to 
take counsel together, in order to determine in what way best to perform those du- 
ties which we owe to our common country. We are to choose eleven Representatives 
in Congress ; also Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, and members of the Legislature, 
which last will choose a Senator of the United States, to uphold, for five years ensu- 
ing, the principles and honor of Massachusetts. If in these elections you were to be 
governed merely by partialities or prejudices, whether personal or political, or mere- 
ly by the exactions of party, I should have nothing to say on this occasion, except 
to dismiss you to your ignoble work. [That is it, good, good.] But I assume that 
you are ready to renounce these influences and press forward with a single regard 
to those duties which are now incumbent upon us in National affairs, and also in 
State affairs. 

And here two questions occur which absorb all others. First, what are our polit- 



'lH 



i 



ical duties here in Massachusetts at tlie present time ? and secondly, how, and by 
what agency shall they be performed ? What, and how ? These are the two ques- 
tions of which I shall briefly speak, in their order, attempting no elaborate discussion, 
but simply aiming to state the case so that it may be intelligible to all who hear me. 

I. And first, what are our duties here in Massachusetts, at the present time ? In 
unfolding these I need not dwell on the wrong and shame of Slavery, or on the char- 
acter of the Slave Power — that Oligarchy of slaveholders — which now rules the 
republic. These you understand. And yet there are two outrages fresh in your 
recollection^ - /hich 1 must not fail to expose, as natural manifestations of Slavery and 
the Slave Pi?./er. One is the repeal of the prohibition of slavery in the vast Mis- 
souri Territory, n^w known as Kansas and Nebraska, contrary to time-honored 
compact and plighted faith. The other is the seizure of Anthony Burns, on the free 
soil of Massachusetts, and his surrender, without judge or jury, to a Slave Hunter 
from Virginia, to be thrust back into perpetual slavery. [Shame ! shame !] These 
outrages cry aloud to Heaven, and to the people of Massachusetts. [Sensation.] 
Their intrinsic wickedness is enhanced by the way in which they were accomplished. 
Of the first, 1 know something from personal observation ; of the latter, I am in- 
formed only by public report. 

It is characteristic of the Slave Power never to stick at any means supposed to be 
needful in carrying forward its plans ; but never, on any occasion, were its assump- 
tions so barefaced and tyrannical as in the passage of the Nebraska Bill. 

This bill was precipitated upon Congress without one word of public recommenda- 
Llon from the President, without notice or discussion in any newspaper, and without 
a single petition from the people. It was urged by different advocates, on two prin- 
cipal arguments, so opposite and inconsistent, as to slap each other in the face. 
[Laughter.] One being that, by the repeal of the prohibition, the territory would 
be absolutely open to the entry of slaveholders with their slaves; and the other being 
that the people there would be left to determine whether slaveholders should enter 
with their slaves. With some, the apology was the alleged rights of slaveholders ; 
with others, it was the alleged rights of the people. With some, it was openly the 
extension of slavery ; and with others, openly the establishment of freedom, under 
the guise of " popular sovereignty." Of course the measure, thus upheld in defi- 
ance of reason, was carried through Congress, in defiance of all the securities of 
legislation. 

It was carried, ^rsi, by whipping into its support, through executive influence and 
patronage, men who acted against their own declared judgment, and the known will 
of their constituents ; secondly, by foisting out of place, both in the Senate and 
House of Representatives, important business, long pending, and usurping its room ; 
thirdly, by trampling underfoot the rules of the House of Representatives, always 
before the safeguard of the minority ; and fourthly, by driving it to a close during 
the present Congress, so that it might not be arrested by the indignant voice of the 
people. Such are some of the means by which the Nebraska Bill was carried. If 
the clear will of the people had not been disregarded, it could not have i)assed. If 
the Government had not nefariously interposed its influence, it could not have passed. 
If it had been left to its natural place in the order of business, it could not have 
passed. If the rules of the House and the rights of the minority had not been 
violated, it could not have passed. If it had been allowed to go over to another Con- 
gress, when the people might be heard, it would have been ended — all ended. 

Contemporaneously with the final triumph of this outrage — on the very night of 
the passage of the Nebraska Bill at Washington — another scene, beginning a dismal 
trao-edy, was enacted at Boston. In those streets where he had walked as a Freeman, 
Anthony Burns was seized as a Slave — under the base pretext that he was a criminal 
— imprisoned in the court house, which was turned for the time into a fortress and 
barracoon — o-uarded by heartless hirelings, whose chief idea of liberty was the license 
to do wronfT — [loud applause and cries of " that's it ! " " that's it ! " &c.] — escorted 
by intrusive soldiers of the United States — watched by a prostituted ir-ilitia — and finally 
"iven up to a Slave Hunter by the decree of a petty magistrate, who did not hesitate 
to take upon his soul the awful responsibility of dooming a fellow-man, in whom he 
could find no fault, to a fate worse than death. How all this was accomplished, I 
need not minutely relate. Suffice it to say, that in doing this deed of woe and shame, 
the liberties of all our citizens, white as well as black, were put in jeopardy — the 



Mayor of Boston was converted to a tool — [applause] — the Governor of the Com- 
monwealth to a cipher — [long continued applause] — the laws, the precious senti- 
ments, the religion, the pride and glory of Massachusetts were trampled in the dust, 
and you and I and all of us fell down while the Slave Power flourished over us. 
[Shame, shame, and applause.] 

These things, in themselves ai'e bad — very bad ; but they are worse when regard- 
ed as the natural emanations of the Oligarchy which now sways the country. And 
it is this Oligarchy which, at every political hazard, we must oppose.^ Already its 
schemes of new aggrandizement are displayed. With a watchfuliiC|;s that never 
sleeps, and an activity that never tires — with as many eyes as Argus, ,\nd as many 
arms as Briareus — the Slave Power asserts its perpetual supremacy; now threaten- 
ing to wrest Cuba from Spain, by violent purchase or more violent war ; now han- 
kering for another slice of Mexico, in order to give new scope to slavery ; now 
proposing once more to open the hideous, heaven-defying slave-trade, and thus to 
replenish its shambles with human flesh ; and now by the lips of an eminent Senator 
asserting an audacious claim to the whole group of the West Indies, whether held 
by Plolland, Spain, France or England, as " our Southern Islands," while it assails 
the independence of Hayti, and stretches its treacherous ambition even to the distant 
Valley of the Amazon. 

In maintaining its power, it has applied a new test for office, very different from 
that of Jefferson — " Is he honest? is he capable.? is he faithful to the Constitution.?" 
None of these things are asked, but simply, " Is he faithful to Slavery .' " [Cries of 
" That's a fact."] With arrogant ostracism it excludes from every office all who can- 
not respond to this test. So complete and irrational has this tyranny become, that, 
at this moment, while I now speak, could Washington, Jefferson or Franklin, once 
more descend upon the earth and mingle in its affairs to bless it with their wisdom, 
not one of them, with his recorded opinions on Slavery, could receive a nomination 
for the Presidency, from a National Convention of either of the great political 
parties, nor, stranger still, could he be confirmed by the Senate for any political 
function under the government. Had this test prevailed in earlier days, Wasliington 
could not have been made Commander-in-Chief of the American army ; Jefl^erson 
could not have taken his place on the Committee to draft the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence ; and Franklin could not have been sent to France with the commission of 
the infant republic, to secure the invaluable alliance of that powerful kingdom. 

In view of these things, our duties are manifest. First and foremost, the Slave 
Power itself must be overthrown. Lord Chatham once exclaimed, in stirring 
language, that the time had been when he was content to bring France to 
her knees ; now he would not stop till he had laid her on her back. Nor 
can we be content with less in our warfare. We must not stop till we 
have laid the Slave Power on its back. [Prolonged cheers.] And, fellow citi- 
zens, permit me to say, not till then will the Free States be absolved from all politi- 
cal responsibility for Slavery, and relieved from that corrupt spirit of compromise 
. hich now debases, at once, their politics and their religion ; nor till then will there 
be any repose for the country. [Immense cheering.] Indemnity for the past, and 
security for the future, must be our watchwords. [Applause.] But these can be 
obtained only when Slavery is dispossessed of its present vantage-ground, by driving 
it back exclusively within the limits of the States, and putting the National Govern- 
ment every where WMthin its constitutional sphere, openly, actively and perpetually, 
on the side of Freedom. The consequences of this change of policy would be of 
incalculable and far-reaching beneficence. Not only would Freedom become na- 
tional and Slavery sectional, as was intended by our Fathers ; but the National 
Government would become the mighty instrument and spokesman of Freedom, as 
it is now the mighty instrument and spokesman of Slavery. Its power, its treasury, 
its patronage, would all be turned, in harmony with the Constitution, to promote 
Freedom. The Committees of Congress, where Slavery now rules. Congress itself, 
and the Cabinet also, would all be organized for Freedom. The hypocritical dis- 
guise or renunciation of Anti-Slavery sentiment would cease to be necessary for the 
sake of political preferment ; and the slave-holding Oligarchy, banished from the 
National Government, and despoiled of its ill-gotten political consequence, without 
ability to punish or reward, would cease to be feared, either at the North or the 
South, until at last the citizens of the Slave States, of whom a large portion have no 



\ 



interest in Slavery, would demand Emancipation ; and the great work would com- 
mence. Such is the obvious course of things. To the overthrow of the Slave 
Power we are thus summoned by a double call, one political and the other philan- 
thropic ; first, to remove an oppressive tyranny from the National Government, and 
secondly, to open the gates of Emancipation in the Slave States. [Loud applause.] 
But while keeping this great purpose in view, we must not forget details. The 
existence of Slavery any where within the national jurisdiction — in the Territories, 
in the District of Columbia, or on the high seas beneath the national flag, is an 
unconstitutioval usurpation, which must be opposed. The Fugitive Slave Bill, mon- 
strous in cru/'lty, as in unconstitutionality, is a usurpation, which must be opposed. 
The admissions-new Slave States, from whatsoever quarter, from Texas or Cuba, 
[applause] Utah or New Mexico, must be opposed. And to every scheme of 
Slavery, whether in Cuba, or Mexico, — on the high seas in opening the slave-trade 

in the West Indies — the Valley of the Amazon, — whether accomplished or merely 

plotted, whether pending or in prospect, we must send forth an everlasting NO ! 
[Long continued applause.] Such is the duty of Massachusetts, without hesitation 
or compromise. 

Thus far I have spoken of our duties in national matters ; but there are other 
duties of pressing importance, here at home, which must not be forgotten or post- 
poned. It is often said that " charity should begin at home." Better say, that 
charity should hegin every where. But while contending with the Slave Power on 
the broad field of national politics, we must not forget the duty of protecting the 
liberty of all who tread the soil of Massachusetts. [Immense cheering.] Early in 
colonial history, Massachusetts set her face against Slavery. At the head of her 
Bill of Rights she solemnly asserted, that all men are born free and equal ; and in 
the same declaration, surrounded the liberties of all within her borders by the inesti- 
mable rights of trial iDy jury and Habeas Corpus. But recent events on her own soil 
have taught the necessity of new safeguards to these great principles, — to the end that 
Massachusetts may not be a vassal of South Carolina and Virginia — that the Slave 
Hunter may not range at will among us, and that the liberties of all may not be 
violated with impunity. 

But I am admonished that I must not dwell longer on these things. Suffice it to 
say, that our duties, in National and State affairs, are identical, and may be de- 
scribed by the same formula : In the one case to put the National Government, in 
all its departments, and in the other case the State Government, in all its depart- 
ments, openly, actively and perpetually, on the side of Freedom. [Loud applause.] 
II. Having considered xvhat our duties are, the question now presses upon us, 
how shall they be performed > By what agency, by what instrumentality, or in 
what way } 

The most obvious way is by choosing men to represent us in tlie national govern- 
ment, and also at home, who shall recognize these duties and be ever loyal to them ; 
[cheers] men who at Washington will not shrink from the conflict with Slavery, and 
also other men, who, at home in Massachusetts will not shrink from the same con- 
flict when the Slave Flunter appears. [Loud applause, and cries of " good," 
" good."] But in the choice of men, we are driven to the organization of parties ; 
and here the question arises, by what form of organization, or by what party, can 
these men be best secured ? Surely not by the Democratic party, as at present 
constituted ; [laughter] though if this party were true to its name, pregnant with 
human rights, it would leave little to be desired. In this party there are doubtless 
individuals who are anxious to do all in their power against Slavery ; but, indulge me 
in saying that, so long as they continue members of a party which upholds the Ne- 
braska Bill, they can do very little. [Applause and laughter.] What may we 
expect from the Whig party ? [A voice— Resolutions.] If more may be expected 
from the Whig party than the Democratic party, candor must attribute much of the 
difl^erence to the fact that the Whigs are out of power, while the Democrats are in 
power. [" That's the talk," and long continued cheers.] If the cases were reversed, 
and the Whigs were in power, as in 1850, I fear that, notwithstanding the ardor of 
individuals, and the Resolutions of Conventions— [great laughter] — made, I fear, 
too often merely toie broken— the party might be brought to sustain an outrage as 
great as the Fugitive Slave Bill. [Laughter and applause.] But without dwelling 
on these things, (to which I allude with diffidence, and, I trust, in no uncharitable 



! 



temper, or partisan spirit,) I desire to say that no party, which calls itself national,' 
according to the common acceptance of the word, — which leans upon a slave-holding 
wing, [cheers] or is in combination with slaveholders, — [cheers] can at this time be 
true to Massachusetts. [Great applause.] And the reason is obvious. It can be pre- 
sented so as to cleave the most common understanding. T/ie essential element of such 
a party, whether declared or concealed, is Compromise ; hit our duties require all 
constitutional opposition to Slavery and the Slave Potcer, without Compromise. 
[" That's it," " good," " good."] It is difficult, then, to see how we can rely upon 
the Whig party. 

To the true-hearted, magnanimous men who are ready to place F'\!.edom above 
Party, and their Country above Politicians, I appeal. [Immense cheering.] Let 
them leave the old parties, and blend in an organization, which, without compro- 
mise, will maintain the good cause surely to the end. Here in Massachusetts a 
large majority of the people concur in sentiment on Slavery ; a large majority 
desire the overthrow of tlie Slave Power. It becomes them not to scatter their 
votes, but to unite in one firm, consistent phalanx, [applause] whose triumph shall 
constitute an epoch of Freedom, not only in this Commonwealth, but throughout the 
land. Such an organization is now presented by this Republican Convention, which, 
according to the resolutions by which it is convoked, is to co-operate with the friends 
of freedom in other States. [Cheers.] As Republicans we go forth to encounter 
the Oligarchs of Slavery. [Great applause.] 

Through this organization we may most certainly secure the election of men, 
who, unseduced and unterrified, will uphold at Washington the principles of Free- 
dom ; and who also here at home, in our own community, by example, influence 
and vote, will help to invigorate Massachusetts. Indeed, I might go further and say, 
that, by no other organization can we reasonably hope to obtain such men, unless in 
rare and exceptional cases. 

Men are but instruments. It will not be enough merely to choose those who are 
loyal. Other things must be done here at home. In the first place, all the existing 
laws for the protection of human freedom must be rigorously enforced ; [applause, 
and cries of " good,"] and, since these have been found inadequate, new laws for 
this purpose, within the limits of the constitution, must be enacted. Massachusetts 
certainly might do well in following Vermont, which, by a special law, has placed 
the fugitive slave under the safeguard of trial by jury and the writ of habeas corpus. 
But a legislature true to Freedom, will not fail in remedies. [Applause.] A simple 
l)rohibition, declaring that no person, holding the commission of Massachusetts, as a 
Justice of the Peace, or other magistrate, should assume to decide a slave case, or 
to act as counsel of any Slave Hunter, under the penalty of forfehing his commission, 
would go far to render the existing Slave Act inoperative. [Applause.] There are 
not many, so fond of this base trade, as to continue in it when the Commonwealth 
has thus set upon it a legislative brand. 

But besides more rigorous legislation. Public Opinion must be invoked to step 
forward and throw over the fugitive its protecting panoply. A Slave Hunter will 
then be a by-word and reproach ; and all his instruments, especially every one 
who volunteers in this vileness, without any positive obligation of law, will nat- 
urally be regarded as a part of his pack, and share the ignominy of the chief 
Hunter. [Laughter and cheers.] And now, from authentic example, drawn out 
of recent history, learn how the Slave Hunter may be palsied by contrition. 
A most successful member of the Italian police, Bolza, whose official duties 
involved his own personal degradation and the loathing of others, has left a rec- 
ord of the acute sense which even such a man retained of his shame. " I 
absolutely forbid my heirs," says this penitent official, " to allow any mark of what- 
ever kind, to be placed over the spot of my burial ; much more any inscription or 
epitaph. I recommend my dearly beloved wife to impress upon my children the 
injunction, that, in soliciting any employment from the Government, they shall ask 
for it elsewhere than in the executive police, and not, unless under extraordinary 
circumstances, to give her consent to the marriage of any of my daughters with a 
member of that service." Thus testifies the Italian instrument of legal wrong. 
Let public opinion here in Massachusetts once put forth its Christian might, and 
every instrument of the Fugitive Act will feel a kindred shame. ^ [Great applause.] 
But it is sometimes gravely urged, that since the Supreme Court of the United 



States has affirmed the constitutionality of the Fugitive Act, there only remains to 
us in all places, whether in public station or as private citizens, the duty of absolute 
submission. Now, without stopping to consider the soundness of their judgment, 
affirming the constitutionality of this Act, let me say that the Constitution of the 
United States, as I understand it, exacts no such passive obedience. And, in taking 
the oath to support the Constitution, I have sworn to support it as I understand it, 
and not as other men understand it. [Loud applause. When it had subsided it was 
followed by three rousing cheers for Sumner.] 

In adopting this rule, which was first authoritatively enunciated by Andrew Jack- 
son, when, j\ President of the United States, in the face of the decisions of the 
Supreme Court, h^ asserted the unconstitutionality of the Bank, I desire to be un- 
derstood as not acting hastily. Let me add, that if it needed other authority in its 
support, it has that also of John Quincy Adams. [Great applause.] And here in- 
dulge me with a reminiscence. It so happened that, during the last year in the life 
of this venerable statesman, while he was ill, it was my privilege to sit sometimes by 
his bed-side. On one of these occasions, I put the question to him directly, wheth- 
er, in taking the oath to support the Constitution, he assumed any obligation to return 
a fuo-itive slave .? to which the " old man eloquent" promptly and earnestly replied 
that, according to his interpretation of the Constitution, he assumed no such obliga- 
tion ; — [applause] — and proceeded to a.ssign certain reasons therefor; and he then 
added, in words calculated to produce a profound impression, that " the best thing 
ever uttered by Andrew Jackson, was that for which, at the time, he was so much 
abused ; namely, that in swearing to support the Constitution, he swore to support it 
as he understood it, and not as other men understood it." [Immense cheering and 
excitement.] Thus, if any person at this day be disposed to deal sharply with this 
rule, or with myself on account of the support which I now most conscientiously 
give it, let him remember that his thrusts will pierce not only myself, the humblest 
of its supporters, but also the great fame of Andrew Jackson and of John Quincy 
Adams — patriots both of eminent life and authority, who, though differing much on 
public questions, and at times rivals and foes, yet concurred in this important princi- 
ple. [Applause.] 

But reason here is in harmony with authority. From the necessity of the case I 
must swear to support the Constitution, either as I do understand it., or as I do not 
understand it. [Laughter.] But the absurdity of dangling on the latter horn of the 
dilemma, compels me to take the former— and there is a natural end of the argu- 
ment. [Great laughter and cheers.] Is there a person in Congress or out of it, in 
the National Government or State Government, who, when this inevitable alternative 
is presented to him, will venture to say that he swears to support the Constitution as 
he does not understand it ? [Laughter and applause.] The supposition is too pre- 
posterous. But let me ask gentlemen who are disposed to abandon their own under- 
standing of the Constitution, to submit their conscience to the standard of other men, 
by whose understanding do they swear ? Surely not by that of the President. 
This is not alleged. But by the understanding of the Supreme Court. In other 
words, to this Court, consisting at present of nine persons, is committed a power of 
fastening such interpretation as they see fit upon any part of the Constitution — add- 
ing to k or subtracting from it— or positively varying its requirements — actually 
making and unmaking the Constitution ; and all good citizens must bow to their 
work as of equal authority with the original instrument, ratified by solemn votes of 
the whole people. [Great applause.] If this be so, then the oath to support the 
Constitution of the United States is hardly less oflensive than the famous " et cetera " 
oath devised by Archbishop Laud, in which the subject swore to certain specified 
things, whh an " &c." added. Such an oath I have not taken. [Good, good.] 

For myself, let me say, that I hold judges, and especially the Supreme Court of the 
country, in much respect ; but I am too familiar with the history of judicial proceedings 
to regard them with any superstitious reverence. [Sensation.] Judges are but men ; 
and in all ages have shown a full share of human frailty. Alas ! alas ! the worst 
crimes of history have been perpetrated under their sanction. The blood of mar- 
tyrs and of patriots, crying from the ground, summons them to judgment. It was a 
judicial tribunal which condemned Socrates to drink the fatal hemlock, and which 
pushed the Saviour barefoot over the pavements of Jerusalem, bending beneath his 
cross. It was a judicial tribunal which, against the testimony and entreaties of her 



father, surrendered the fair Virguiia as a slave ; which arrested the teacliiiigs of the 
great Apostle to the Gentiles, and sent him in bonds from Judca to Rome ; which, 
in the name of the Old Religion, adjudged the saints and fathers of the Christian 
church to death, in all its most dreadful forms ; and which, afterwards, in the 
name of the New Religion, enforced the tortures of the Inquisition, amidst the 
shrieks and agonies of its victims, while it compelled Galileo to declare, in solemn 
denial of the great truth he had disclosed, that the earth did not move round the sun. 
It was a judicial tribunal which, in France, during the long reign of her monarchs, 
lent itself to be the instrument of every tyranny, as during the brief reign of terror 
it did not hesitate to stand forth the unpitying accessary of the unpity'.ig guillotine. 
Aye, Sir, it was a judicial tribunal in England, surrounded by all tl^.o forms of law, 
which sanctioned every despotic caprice of Henry the Eightb, from the unjust divorce 
of his queen, to the beheading of Sir Thomas More ; which lighted the fires of perse- 
cution that glowed at Oxford and Smithfield, over the cinders of Latimer, Ridley, and 
John Rogers; which, after elaborate argument, upheld the fatal tyranny of ship 
money against the patriot resistance of Hampden ; which, in defiance of justice and 
humanity, sent Sidney and Russell to the block ; which persistently enforced the 
laws of Conformity that our Puritan Fathers persistently refused to obey; and which 
afterwards, with Jeffries on the bench, crimsoned the pages of English history with 
massacre and murder — even with the blood of innocent woman. And it was a 
judicial tribunal in our country, surrounded by all the forms of law, which hung 
witches at Salem — which affirmed the constitutionality of the Stamp Act, while 
it admonished " jurors and the people " to obey — and which now, in our day, has 
lent its sanction to the unutterable atrocity of the Fugitive Slave Bill. [Long con- 
tinued applause, and three cheers for Sumner.] 

The judgments of courts are of binding authority upon inferior tribunals and ex- 
ecutive functionaries, whose virtue does not prompt them to resign office rather than 
aid in the execution of an unjust law. Over all citizens, whether in public or pri- 
vate station, they will naturally exert, as precedents, a commanding influence ; this, 
I admit ; but no man, who is not lost to self-respect, and ready to abandon that man- 
hood' which is shown in the Heaven-directed countenance, will voluntarily aid in 
enforcing a judgment, which, in his conscience, he solemnly believes to be against 
the fundamental law, whether of the Constitution or of God. [Applause.] Not 
lightly, not rashly will he take the grave responsibility of open dissent ; but if the 
occasion requires, he will not hesitate. Pains and penalties may be endured, but 
wrong must not be done. [Cheers.] " I cannot obey, but I can suffer," was the 
exclamation of the author of Pilgrim's Progress, when imprisoned for disobedience 
to an earthly statute. Better suffer injustice than do it. Better be even the poor 
Slave, returned to bondage, than the unhappy Commissioner. [Applause and sensa- 
tion.] 

The whole dogma of passive ohedience must be rejected ; — in whatever guise it 
may assume, and under whatever alias it may skulk ; whether in the tyrannical 
usurpations of king, parliament, or judicial tribunal ; whether in the exploded theo- 
ries of Sir Robert Filmer, or the rampant assumptions of the partisans of the Fugi- 
tive Slave Bill. The rights of the civil power arc limited ; there are things beyond 
its province ; there are matters out of its control ; there are cases in which the faith- 
ful citizen may say — aye, 7nusf say — " I will not obey." No man now responds to 
the words of Shakspeare, " If a king bid a man be a villain, he is bound, by the 
indenture of his oath, to be one." Nor will any prudent reasoner, who duly con- 
siders the rights of conscience, claim for any earthly magistrate or tribunal, howso- 
ever styled, a power which, in this age of civilization and liberty, the loftiest mon- 
arch of a Christian throne, wearing on his brow " the round and top of sovereignty" / 
dare not assert. ■ 

Fellow Citizens of Massachusetts : — Our own local history is not without encour* 
agement. In early colonial days, the law against witclicraft, now so abhorrent to / 
reason and conscience, was regarded as constitutional and binding, precisely as the 
Fuo-itive Slave Bill, not less abhorrent to reason and conscience, has been regarded * 
as constitutional and binding. The Supreme Court of the Province, with able judges,^ 
whose names are entwined with our history, enforced this law at Salem, by the exe^ 
cution of fourteen persons as witches ; precisely as petty magistrates, acting unde 
the sanction of the Supreme Court of the United States, and also of the Supren 



i 




Court of Massachusetts, have enforced the Fugitive Act, by the redn-^*'on of two 
human beings to Slavery. The clergy of Massachusp^t- oNGRE-^^ "" Boston, 
and also Harvard College, were for the law. lIBR^*'''^ ^^ \nWlffl\\\\\\l\\l!W\ Mather, 
from the pulpit, " is the most nefandous hi^ 1\\\?M\\\\\I\\\I\I1I1Im " — even 

as opposition to the Fugitive Act was denoun 

But the law against witchcraft was not trii 
the Province first became penitent, and asked 
his servants and people in the late traged) 
and lamenting the delusion to which they hi, 
judges, and ^;knowledged that they had brought the reproach of wrongful blood- 
shed on their 'liatjye land. Sewall, one of the judges, whose name lives freshly 
in the liberty-loving character of his descendant, (Hon. S. E. Sewall,) [applause,] 
and who had presided at the trials, stood up in his place at church, before the 
congregation, and implored the prayers of the people '■ that the errors he had 
committed might not be visited by the judgments of an avenging God on his 
country, his family, or himself." And now, in a manuscript diary of this de- 
parted judge, may be read, on the margin against the description of these trials, in 
liis own handwriting, these words of Latin interjection and sorrow : Vcb, vob, vcc. 
Woe ! woe ! woe ! [Sensation.] 

The parallel between the enforcement of the law against witchcraft, and the 
Fugitive Act is not yet complete. It remains for our Legislature, the successor 
of that original General Court, to lead the penitential march, [Laughter.] In 
the slave cases there have been no jurymen to recant ; [laughter] and it is too 
much, perhaps, to expect any magistrate who has sanctioned the cruelty, to imitate 
the magnanimity of other days by public repentance. But it is not impossible that 
future generations may be permitted to read, in some newly exhumed diary or let- 
ter, by one of these unhappy functionaries, words of woe not unlike those which 
were wrung from the soul of Sewall. [Sensation.] 

And noy, fellow citizens, one word in conclusion : Be of good cheer. [" That's 
it."] I know well the difficulties and responsibilities of the contest ; but not on this 
account do I bate a jot of heart or hope. [Applause.] At this time, in our coun- 
try, there is little else to tempt into public life an honest man, who wishes, by some- 
thing that he has done, to leave the world better than he found it. There is little 
else which can afford any of those satisfactions which an honest man can covet. 
Nor is there any cause which so surely promises final success. There is nothing 
good — not a breathing of the common wind — which is not on our side. Ours, too, 
are those great allies described by the poet — 

" exultations, agonies, 

And love, and man's unconquerable mind." 

And there are favoring circumstances peculiar to the present moment. By the 
passage of the Nebraska Bill, and the Boston kidnapping case, the tyranny of the 
Slave Power has become unmistakably manifest, while, at the same time, all com- 
promises with Slavery are happily dissolved, so that Freedom now stands face to 
face with its foe. The pulpit, too, released from its ill-omened silence, now thunders 
for Freedom, as in the olden time. [Cheers.] It belongs to Massachusetts — nurse 
of the men and principles which made the earliest Revolution — to vow herself anew 
to her ancient faith, as she lifts herself to the great struggle. Her place now, as of 
old, is in the van, at the head of the battle. [Sensation.] But to sustain this ad- 
vanced position with proper inflexibility, three things are now needed by our beloved 
Commonwealth, in all her departments of government — the same three things, 
which once in Faneuil Hall, I ventured to say were needed by every representative 
of the North at Washington. The first is backbone ; [applause] the second is back- 
bone; [renewed applause] and the third is BACKBONE. [Long continued cheer- 
ing, and three cheers for " back-bone."] With these, Massachusetts will be respect- 
ed, and felt as a positive force in the National Government, [applause] while at 
home, on her own soil, free at last in reality as in name, [applause] all her people, 
from the islands of Boston to Berkshire hills, and from the sands of Barnstable to 
the northern line, will unite in the cry : 

" No slave hunt in our borders — no pirate on our strand ; 
No fetter on the Bay State ; no slave upon her land." 



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